Where do we aspire to publish? A position paper on scientific communication in biochemistry and molecular biology

The scientific publication landscape is changing quickly, with an enormous increase in options and models. Articles can be published in a complex variety of journals that differ in their presentation format (online-only or in-print), editorial organizations that maintain them (commercial and/or society-based), editorial handling (academic or professional editors), editorial board composition (academic or professional), payment options to cover editorial costs (open access or pay-to-read), indexation, visibility, branding, and other aspects. Additionally, online submissions of non-revised versions of manuscripts prior to seeking publication in a peer-reviewed journal (a practice known as pre-printing) are a growing trend in biological sciences. In this changing landscape, researchers in biochemistry and molecular biology must re-think their priorities in terms of scientific output dissemination. The evaluation processes and institutional funding for scientific publications should also be revised accordingly. This article presents the results of discussions within the Department of Biochemistry, University of São Paulo, on this subject.

Efeito embriotóxico, teratogênico e abortivo de plantas medicinais / Embryotoxic, teratogenic and abortive effects of medicinal plants

O uso milenar de plantas medicinais mostrou ao longo dos anos, que determinadas plantas apresentam substâncias potencialmente perigosas. Do ponto de vista científico, algumas pesquisas mostraram que muitas dessas plantas possuem substâncias agressivas e por essa razão devem ser utilizadas com cuidado, respeitando seus riscos toxicológicos. Os efeitos mais preocupantes do uso indiscriminado de plantas medicinais são embriotóxico, teratogênico e abortivo, uma vez, que os constituintes da planta podem atravessar a placenta, chegar ao feto e gerar um desses efeitos. Este estudo objetiva fornecer uma listagem das principais plantas medicinais que tenham efeitos embriotóxicos, teratogênicos e abortivos comprovados, conhecendo as partes da planta utilizadas e seus respectivos nomes científicos, com a finalidade de alertar gestantes quanto aos riscos de seu uso. Realizou-se buscas nas bases eletrônicas de dados SciELO, PubMed, MEDLINE, LILACS, CAPES e Google acadêmico. Nos resultados encontrados, plantas como Arnica (Arnica montana), Artemísia (Artemisia vulgaris), Arruda (Ruta chalepensis/ Ruta graveolens), Barbatimão (Stryphnodendron polyphyllum), Boldo (Vernonia condensata) dentre outras, podem vir a gerar um desses efeitos. A partir deste estudo comprova-se que para a maioria das plantas medicinais não há dados a respeito da segurança de seu uso durante a gravidez.

The ancient use of medicinal plants has shown over the years that certain plants have potentially dangerous substances. From a scientific point of view, some studies have shown that many of these plants contain aggressive substances and therefore should be used with caution, respecting their toxicological risks. The most important effects of the indiscriminate use of medicinal plants are embryotoxic, teratogenic and abortifacient since the plant constituents can cross the placenta, reaching the fetus and leading to one of these effects. This study aimed to provide a list of the major medicinal plants that have proven embryotoxic, teratogenic and abortifacient effects, including the used plant parts and their respective scientific names, in order to warn pregnant women about the risks of its use. Searches were carried out in the electronic databases SciELO, PubMed, MEDLINE, LILACS, CAPES and Google Scholar. Results indicated that plants such as mountain arnica (Arnica montana), mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), fringed rue (Ruta chalepensis / Ruta graveolens), "Barbatimão" (Stryphnodendron polyphyllum) and "Boldo" (Vernonia condensata) are likely to generate such an effect. This study shows that for most medicinal plants there are not data regarding the safety of their use during pregnancy.

SpotWhatR: a user-friendly microarray data analysis system

SpotWhatR is a user-friendly microarray data analysis tool that runs under a widely and freely available R statistical language (http://www.r-project.org) for Windows and Linux operational systems. The aim of SpotWhatR is to help the researcher to analyze microarray data by providing basic tools for data visualization, normalization, determination of differentially expressed genes, summarization by Gene Ontology terms, and clustering analysis. SpotWhatR allows researchers who are not familiar with computational programming to choose the most suitable analysis for their microarray dataset. Along with well-known procedures used in microarray data analysis, we have introduced a stand-alone implementation of the HTself method, especially designed to find differentially expressed genes in low-replication contexts. This approach is more compatible with our local reality than the usual statistical methods. We provide several examples derived from the Blastocladiella emersonii and Xylella fastidiosa Microarray Projects. SpotWhatR is freely available at http://blasto.iq.usp.br/~tkoide/SpotWhatR, in English and Portuguese versions. In addition, the user can choose between [quot ]single experiment[quot ] and [quot ]batch processing[quot ] versions.

Fibrilação ventricular durante teste ergométrico em jovem portadora de prolapso da valva mitral. Relato de caso / Ventricular fibrillation during ergometric test in a young woman with mitral valve prolapse. Report of a case

Uma paciente jovem, portadora da sindrome de prolapso da valva mitral (SPVM), com historia de sincopes desencadeadas por esforco fisico, durante a realizacao do teste ergometrico, apresentou episodio de fibrilacao ventricular, revertida apos cardioversao eletrica. O exame fisico nao revelou dados auscutatorios compativeis com SPVM. O diagnostico foi feito retrospectivamente, atraves do ecocardiograma e do cateterismo cardiaco, caracterizando assim o chamado "prolapso silencioso"